The lack of access to educational programming in correctional facilities represents a serious problem in the United States, and is often considered to be one of the primary drivers behind the near 50% average recidivism rate. Furthermore, the lack of access to education-based activities leads to high incidence of violence among incarcerated individuals and between those individuals and correctional officers. Despite consistent evidence illustrating that educational programming reduces recidivism and reduces in-facility violence, correctional facilities face resource constraints when attempting to enable and incentivize large populations of inmates to engage in educational programming. Further, educational programming is typically only offered in distinct areas of a correctional facility and not in the cells, dorms, common areas, or day rooms where residents spend the majority of their time. The vast majority of training is done in-person and does not allow for people to work at their own pace. Additionally, the times and class size of programming and the number of in-person jobs is significantly limited and focused on pedagogy and training with long-term incentives.
It is with these concepts in mind, among others, that various aspects of the present disclosure were conceived.